Tricky sailing scenarios
that necessitate a thorough reading of the rulebook and thoughtful
consideration by an international judge don’t just happen at big international
regattas. Indeed, the outcome of the Laser Standard class at the Columbus Day
Regatta, sailed out of the St. Thomas Yacht Club October 9 and 10, hinged on
just such an issue.
St. Thomas’ Cy Thompson and
Thomas Barrows had racked up a tied score with five points apiece after the
first day’s three races. Barrows won the tiebreaker by scoring a greater number
of first place finishes.
The next day, the two
sailors sparred on the seas and again ended tied with nine points apiece. This
time, an incident in the second to last race put the regatta outcome into the protest
committee’s hands.
The clash happened as
Barrows approached the first rounding of the windward mark on starboard, while
Thompson sailed in on port. Seeing an opportunity to overtake his opponent,
Thompson tacked in front of Barrows within the two-boat length zone – a
maneuver Thompson was within his rights to do. Second later, Barrows, without
being forced to change course by Thompson’s tack, sailed into the back of
Thompson’s boat and touched its rudder. Ultimately, the judges looked at a
number of sailing rules to puzzle out the situation and decided neither racer
would be disqualified. Thus, Thompson triumphed in what then became a
tiebreaker decided on the outcome of the last race – which he won.
Twenty-six sailors from
Puerto Rico and all three U.S. Virgin Islands competed in this event that
featured Laser Radial rigs and Optimist dinghies. Conditions provide calm
through the event with extremely light winds and inky seas. These conditions
proved challenging, yet racing in the Optimist class was nearly as close as for
the Lasers.
St. Thomas’ Tyler Rice led
St. John’s Mayumi Roller for the Opti Overall top slot going into the last day,
even though both had a tied score of six points. Day two, astute sailing led
Roller to pick up the few puffs of breeze that existed thus allowing her to
double her point spread and garner an undisputed win.
“I really wanted to sail
today because I thought I could overtake Tyler and I did,” Roller said.
The next event hosted by the
St. Thomas Yacht Club will be the 2nd Annual North Sails IC24
Regatta, set for November 13-14. For more information, contact: Jennie Smith at
jenniemarie73@hotmail.com,
Tel/Fax: 340-777-8182, or Ruth Miller at ruthmiller@islands.vi or 340-774-3883.
RESULTS
LASER
1. Cy Thompson, St. Thomas
(9)
2. Thomas Barrows, St.
Thomas (9)
3. Francisco Medina, Puerto
Rico (15)
4. Jason Dane, St. John (28)
5. Dick Burks, St. John (29)
6. John Sweeney, St. Thomas
(30)
LASER RADIALS
1. Taylor Canfield, St.
Thomas (10)
2. Marco Teixidor, Puerto
Rico (12)
3. Carlos Teixidor, Puerto
Rico (15)
4. Hugo Roller, St. John
(22)
5. Sydney Jones, St. Croix
(28)
OPTIMIST OVERALL
1. Mayumi Roller, St. John
(8)
2. Tyler Rice, St. Thomas
(16)
3. Billy Gibbons, St. Croix
(21)
4. Ian Barrows, St. Thomas
(28)
5. William Bailey, St.
Thomas (29)
6. Max Nickbarg, St. John
(39)
7. Nikki Barnes, St. Thomas
(43)
8. Alex Coyle, St. John (47)
9. Alex Taylor, St. Thomas
(48)
10. Morgan Bryan, St. Croix
(51)
11. Rian Bareuther, St.
Thomas (54)
12. Mack Bryan, St. Croix
(57)
13. Challis Diaz, St. Croix
(65)
14. Christopher Cilliers,
St. Thomas (75)
15. Kelly Wallace, St.
Thomas (92)
OPTIMIST RED FLEET
1. Mayumi Roller, St. John
(8)
2. Rian Bareuther, St.
Thomas (54)
OPTIMIST BLUE FLEET
1. Tyler Rice, St. Thomas
(16)
2. Billy Gibbons, St. Croix
(21)
3. William Bailey, St.
Thomas (29)
4. Max Nickbarg, St. John
(39)
5. Nikki Barnes, St. Thomas
(43)
6. Alex Coyle, St. John (47)
7. Morgan Bryan, St. Croix
(51)
OPTIMIST WHITE FLEET
1. Ian Barrows, St. Thomas
(28)
2. Alex Tayler, St. Thomas
(48)
3. Mack Bryan, St. Croix
(57)
4. Challis Diaz, St. Croix
(65)
5. Christopher Cilliers, St.
Thomas (75)
6. Kelly Wallace, St. Thomas
(92)
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